Low Carb Powders

snip all

Either something funky is suddenly happening to my computer, or your post has no word-wrapping in it. Never had this happen before.

Anyway, I'd sure like to hear if anyone has tried this low-carb powder additive. I don't see how it could possibly work other than by breaking down the unfermentable sugars into fermentable ones that are then fermented by the yeast -- something like adding beano. But from all that I've read, that results in a very dry beer with little mouthfeel and malt flavor. Anyone have any ideas about what this new powder might be?

Thanks.

Bill Velek

My guess is amylase enzyme...and you're right about the effects of it!

---------->Denny

Sounds like Beano to me. The same Beano tablets that reduce gas in your intestinal tract contain enzymes, which, when added to beer, will break down complex sugars into simpler ones, allowing more sugar to be fermented. Everybody around here seems to think it's a bad idea, but from what I've read in BYO magazine and other sources, it's really not all that bad... it should cut your final gravity roughly in half; for example, if your final gravity is stuck at 1.012, you might be able to get it down to 1.006 if you add enzymes such as Beano. I have yet to try it myself, but I am tempted, since I usually use a high percentage of poor-fermenting extract in my recipes (scold me if you will, but it sure is convenient), and often end up with a final gravity of around 1.018, which is great for mouthfeel, but not quite where I want it to be all the time. I mean, how many recipes are actually supposed to end at 1.018? Not many. So one of these days, I'm going to try it... on a 2.5 gallon batch. (Then if it gets screwed up, I don't feel as bad if it's only 2.5 gallons.)

My 2 cents.

As an experiment I stopped drinking beer for 6 months to see if the alleged reduction in carbs manifested itself in my weight.

It had no effect whatsoever on my weight. There is no such thing as a beer belly.

snip

"Beano" is amyloglucosidase, and it's used to make sugar-free beer for diabetics. 'Sugar free' = 'no carb'.

If I was going to try anything, I'd first buy a small package of Beano before I'd spring for a quantity of some 'powder' that I might not like nor use again.

Cheers.

Bill Velek

Beer that doesn't fart? No way.

I have been brewing with Beano tabs since I read about it in the March

The article advises to compensate for the carbohydrates the Beano takes out, add some of the new no-calorie sweetener, Splenda. This will put back the mouth feel that the Beano removed without changing the taste, etc.

My normal drinking brew is an English Dark Mild in 6 gal batch using 2 beano tabs. Following BYOs formula, I added 1 cup of Splenda to my priming sugar at bottling time. (Note Splenda is ment to be swapped with sugar on a per volume basis. the pakage I bought is 9.7 oz, equivalent to 5 lbs.] Was a little a little worried about bottle grenades so bottled in plastic bottles even though BYO said it would not ferment.

Worked great, tastes great.

Pete

Jeez, how can you f*ck up homebrew so much.

Six months, eh? Wow, way to take one for the team! That's a true sacrifice in the interest of science, and you're a stronger man than I. Good on ya.

JT

Yeah, but I am making up for it now.

Why do you think I set up the kegerator.